Posted on by Jack O'Connor

Create Device Collections From Active Directory OUs with PowerShell

I was setting up a Config Manager environment for a client who is situated in roughly 40 locations. Each location had an Organizational Unit (OU) in Active Directory (AD) and within that OU was… even more OUs! This was understandable as in each location there were many different rooms for many different purposes and so these were organised via separate OUs.

Baring in mind 40 locations had many OUs and I needed to create a device collection which houses all corresponding devices for each of these, I had to turn to my good friend PowerShell as there is no chance I was creating 400+ device collections manually! As a result I create this script.

################################################################################
#
#   Author: Jack O'Connor
#   Description: Create ConfigMgr Device Collections from Active Directory Organisational Units and Computers
#   Website: https://github.com/JackOconnor21
#
#   Params: OUSearchBase, LimitingCollection, MembershipRule, CollectionFolder
#   Example: .\Create-CollectionsFromOUs.ps1 -OUSearchBase "OU=Workstations,OU=Internal IT,OU=JACKO,DC=JACKO,DC=LOCAL" -LimitingCollection "All Systems" -ExcludedOUS "Admin Accounts, Users" -MembershipRule "Query" -CollectionFolder "Test" -Tag "EUR"
#   Logging Keys:
#      - Green: Success, Red: Failure, Cyan: General (Info)
#
#   Docs:
#    OUSearchBase:
#      The children of the OU passed as the OUSearchBase will have device collections created with their names.
#    LimitingCollection:
#      The LimitingCollection is self-explanitory, it is simply the limiting collection of the device collections that are being created.
#    ExcludedOUs:
#      Here we can define any OUs that we wish to explicitly exclude and not create a device collection for. (typically this is OUs which contain accounts)
#    MembershipRule:
#      The MemberShipRule can be either Query or Direct. If 'Query' then all devices from the OUs will be pulled into the device collection, now and in the future (due to the query on the collection).
#      If the MembershipRule is Direct then all members in the OUs will be pulled in one time only, but not any future devices.
#    CollectionFolder:
#      The value you pass here as a param will be the folder your new device collections will be added to. E.G. "Operational"
#    Tag:
#      Optionally tag the device collection with a name. This will appear as such 'OU Based | $Tag | CollectionName' (for example a site code could be used if you have many sites)
#   
################################################################################
Param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][String]$OUSearchBase,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][String]$LimitingCollection,
    [String]$ExcludedOUs,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][String]$MembershipRule,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)][String]$CollectionFolder,
    [String]$Tag
)

# Check for elevation
Write-Host "Checking for elevation"
If (-NOT ([Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal] [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).IsInRole(`
    [Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole] "Administrator"))
{
    Write-Warning "Please run from elevated PowerShell prompt!"
    Write-Warning "Aborting script..."
    Break
}

$Path = Get-Location

 # Import the ConfigurationManager.psd1 module 
if((Get-Module ConfigurationManager) -eq $null) {
    Import-Module "$($ENV:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH)\..\ConfigurationManager.psd1"
}

$SiteCode = (Get-PSDrive -PSProvider CMSITE).Name

Import-Module ActiveDirectory
Write-Host "Imported the 'ActiveDirectory' module" -ForegroundColor Cyan

Set-Location "$SiteCode`:"

# Create a schedule to run every 4 hours.
$Schedule = New-CMSchedule –RecurInterval Hours –RecurCount 4

# Get all OUs that are one level below the given OU as the search base
$OUs = Get-ADOrganizationalUnit -LDAPFilter "(name=*)" -SearchScope OneLevel -SearchBase $OUSearchBase

# Convert the string of comma-separated excluded OUs to an array
If($ExcludedOUs) {
    $ExcOUArr = $ExcludedOUs.Split(",").Trim()
}

If ($Tag) { 
    $Tag = " $Tag |" 
} Else { 
    $Tag = "" 
}

# Loop each of the OUs that we have found above
Foreach ($OU in $OUs) {

    # Skip doing anything with OUs and Computers that have been excluded
    if ($ExcOUArr -Contains $OU.Name) { 
        Write-Host "Excluding '$($OU.Name)' from being processed." -ForegroundColor Gray
        continue 
    }

    Write-Host "Looping over the '$($OU.Name)' OU" -ForegroundColor Cyan

    # Create a new device collection within SCCM with the given parameters
    try {
        $currCollection = New-CMDeviceCollection -Name "OU Based |$Tag $($OU.Name)" -LimitingCollectionName $LimitingCollection -RefreshSchedule $Schedule -RefreshType Periodic
        Write-Host "New ConfigMgr Device Collection created with the name '$($OU.Name)'" -ForegroundColor Green

        # Allows for the passing of a collection folder which is the folder your created device collections will be moved into.
        $CollectionPath = $SiteCode + ":\DeviceCollection\$CollectionFolder"

        # Move the device collection into the chosen collection folder.
        Move-CMObject -FolderPath $CollectionPath -InputObject (Get-CMDeviceCollection -Name $currCollection.Name)

        # Set is error to false to indicate no error has occurred.
        $isError = 0
    } catch {
        Write-Host "Error creating Device Collection '$($OU.Name)' - This Device Collection may already exist. Any new found devices will still be added." -ForegroundColor Red
        $isError = 1
    }

    # If the membership rule is query and there has not been an error.
    If ($MembershipRule -eq "Query" -AND !$isError) {

        # Convert the OU Distinguished name to the canonical name of the OU.
        $CanonicalOUName = Get-CanonicalName($OU.DistinguishedName)

        # The device collection query will differ based on which members are to be added.
        $Query = 'SELECT *  FROM  SMS_R_System WHERE SMS_R_System.SystemOUName = "' + $($CanonicalOUName) + '"'

        # Add the query membership rule to the Device Collection
        Add-CMDeviceCollectionQueryMembershipRule -CollectionId $currCollection.CollectionId -QueryExpression $Query -RuleName $OU.Name

    } ElseIf ($MembershipRule -eq "Direct") {

        # Get all computers that exist beneath the current OU at any level
        $ADComps = Get-ADComputer -LDAPFilter "(name=*)" -SearchBase "OU=$($OU.Name),$OUSearchBase" -SearchScope Subtree

        # Loop each of the computers beneath the current OU within AD
        Foreach ($Comp in $ADComps) {
            Write-Host "Looping over all AD computer '$($Comp.Name)' within the $($OU.Name) OU" -ForegroundColor Cyan

            # Get the resource ID of the current computer
            $ResourceID = $(Get-CMDevice -Name $Comp.Name).ResourceID 

            # Add the current computer device into the current device collection based on the resource ID of the machine
            try {
                Add-CMDeviceCollectionDirectMembershipRule -CollectionName "OU Based |$Tag $($OU.Name)" -ResourceId $ResourceID
                Write-Host "AD computer '$($Comp.Name)' added to the '$($OU.Name)' ConfigMgr Device Collection" -ForegroundColor Green
            } catch {
                 Write-Host "Error adding device '$($Comp.Name)' to collection '$($OU.Name)' - This device may already exist within the collection." -ForegroundColor Red
            }
        }
    }
}

Set-Location $Path

# Function by thepip3r @ https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Get-CanonicalName-Convert-a2aa82e5
function Get-CanonicalName ([string[]]$DistinguishedName) {    
    foreach ($dn in $DistinguishedName) {      
        $d = $dn.Split(',') ## Split the dn string up into it's constituent parts 
        $arr = (@(($d | Where-Object { $_ -notmatch 'DC=' }) | ForEach-Object { $_.Substring(3) }))  ## get parts excluding the parts relevant to the FQDN and trim off the dn syntax 
        [array]::Reverse($arr)  ## Flip the order of the array. 
 
        ## Create and return the string representation in canonical name format of the supplied DN 
        "{0}/{1}" -f  (($d | Where-Object { $_ -match 'dc=' } | ForEach-Object { $_.Replace('DC=','') }) -join '.'), ($arr -join '/') 
    } 
}

Although fairly well documented within the script (If i do say so myself), I will run you through it in a bit more detail. Below you can see an example usage of this script.

#
.\Create-CollectionsFromOUs.ps1 -OUSearchBase "OU=Workstations,OU=Internal IT,OU=JACKO,DC=JACKO,DC=LOCAL" -LimitingCollection "All Systems" -ExcludedOUS "Admin Accounts, Users" -MembershipRule "Query" -CollectionFolder "Test" -Tag "EUR"
#

For example, let’s pretend we have an AD OU structure a little something like this:

JACKO.local > JACKO > Internal IT > Workstations

Under workstations, imagine we had the following OUs

  • Meeting Room 1
  • Meeting Room 2
  • Office Ground
  • Office Second
  • Main Office
  • IT Office

Now picture each of these OUs having multiple devices and we need to create a device collection for each of them and add the devices within them to that collection. If there are only 6 like above then it’s an easy job and you might consider doing this manually at first, however if there are 50… you might not.

This is where the script comes into play, it is simple to use although it may look daunting at first. There are a couple of question you should ask first:

  1. What do I want the limiting collection of all of these new collections to be?
  2. Are there any OUs I do NOT want to create a collection for?
  3. Do I want to only add the machines that are currently in the OUs to the collection or do I want to also add any devices that are added in the future to the OU?
  4. Do I want these device collections to be in a folder within Config Manager?
  5. Finally, do I want to identify these collections with a tag?

Question #1 corresponds to the “LimitingCollection” parameter, simply pass the name of the desired limiting collection.

Question #2 corresponds to the “ExcludedOUs” parameter, pass a comma-separated list of any OU names you do NOT wish to make a collection for.

Question #3 corresponds to the “MembershipRule” parameter, pass “Query” if you want to add all current AND future devices. Pass “Direct” if you only want to add current devices, but avoid adding any new devices added to the AD OU.

Question #4 is based on the “CollectionFolder” param, just pass the path of that folder. E.G. “Operational” or “Operational\Workstations”

Question #5 related to the “Tag” param. By default all these collections will be created with a name like:

OU Based | $CollectionName

as we believe that you should differentiate your collections and label the ones built from OUs. If you use a tag then the name will change slightly to:

OU Based | $Tag | $CollectionName

Tags are useful for separate sites and also avoid duplicate collection names across sites.

Last but not least, the most important parameter is the “OUSearchBase” param which is going to be the name of the OU which parents all of the other OUs you wish to make device collections based off. In our example we would have to the value

“OU=Workstations,OU=Internal IT,OU=JACKO,DC=JACKO,DC=LOCAL”

This would loop all OUs that are children of “Workstations” and create a device collection for each and automate all that hard work so you can sit back, relax, and have a coffee.

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